The radiation emitted by cellphone antennas appears to stimulate activity in parts of the human brain, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Using positron emission tomography, researchers from the National Institutes of Health placed a cellphone device next to the left and right ears of 47 healthy people and then, after
switching one of the phones on for 50 minutes, measured the location and timing of brain activity. (Because the phones were switched to “mute” mode, the subjects could not tell which phone was on.) Researchers found that two areas of the brain closest to the antenna — and not at the point where the phone was closest to the head — showed increased activity when the phone was switched on, a finding the authors say could suggest the reaction was triggered by electromagnetic signals and not the heat produced by the device. Researchers say it’s too early to know the implications of the findings. “Because there’s been such a massive expansion in cellphone use these past 15 to 20 years, it behooves us to try to understand whether, if we use these devices repeatedly and intensively for years, do they have lasting effects?” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the study’s lead author.
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